Chereads / My Fanfic Stash and Favorite online quests / Chapter 233 - Null and Void (American Kitsune Semi-SI) by Jackie Avocado

Chapter 233 - Null and Void (American Kitsune Semi-SI) by Jackie Avocado

Words: 33k+

Link: -https://forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/12778

Chapter One

So, before we start, a little background.

The setting this fic takes place in is American Kitsune by Brandon Varnell aka The Engulfing Silence on FF, it's a light novel that's heavily based on the Naruto fanfiction Naruto Genkyouien. This idea came along after actually reading the books and reading Arrixam's fic about it called Synthetic Fox, which is really good by the way.

So, I was like: "You know what? Fuck it." and started my own American Kitsune fic with a bunch of OG lore pertaining to the MC, cause why not go full retard.

This would lead into the greatest thing of all…

ISEKAI TEAM DEATHMATCH!

A one versus six where the MC has to go up against six incredibly broken motherfuckers while dealing with his own world's bullshit and the prom is tomorrow!

Though I'll be honest, I'm not sure I'll continue this story past the first chapter considering how I kind of lost interest near the end of this chapter, but I'll tots keep on writing I you guys like it.

Chapter One: Life Is A Shit Game

I pushed a button.

[Self destruct in 30 seconds]

Fuck.

I started booking it immediately.

I ran past the corpse of my latest victim; a dumbass mad scientist who thought that trying to kill me, basically Asian Old Man John Wick with a magic katana, was a good idea.

Spoilers: It wasn't.

I slaughtered everyone he sent after me. Though he almost got me with that one fucker whose giant god damned hammer was also a bomb.

Jackass blew up my house. That was a declaration of war as far as I was concerned.

A few weeks of searching later, and I had found his base of operations. Killed everyone, including the cyborgs and death bots. Hell, that one souped-up android based on data collected from me fucking up his men did give me a good work out, and a good work out could do me some good in my advanced age.

I may have been eighty-four, but age means jack-shit when you're in some Afro Samurai rip-off world. Seriously, this world could not pick between cyberpunk bullshit and feudal Japan.

And if Mr. Retarded Mad Scientist had been the slightest bit genre-savvy, he might not have ended up as chopped fucking hamburger.

But hey, that's just how the cookie crumbles… like this evil scientist's facility.

I rushed down the winding, and rather bloody hallways filled with the corpses of those that got in my way.

Really should've kept one of these guys alive, would've made getting back out much easier, but that's my fuck-up.

The underground facility shook; rubble closed off the hall in front of me. I looked to my sides.

To my left, an office.

To my right, an elevator… which I cut the cables off of, and crashed into the bottom floor in an effort to make my entrance more menacing and badass.

Again, my fuck-up, sorry me.

[10]

[9]

I mean sure, I could use the magic sword I had to cut the ruble out of the way or try to climb my way out of the facility using the elevator. But I knew I was already too late.

Besides, I was tired of this life anyway.

Wasn't much left for a fossilized grandfather like myself. Couldn't meme on some fools with as much vigor as I could when the flames of my youth burned their brightest.

[7]

[6]

[5]

I stabbed the katana in my hand into the ground. The blade, blacker than night, easily stabbed into the tile and concrete as if it were styrofoam.

It was simply known as the Void Blade and it was one of the few things in the world that was a solid construct made out of the mysterious otherworldly element known as Void.

Such a mysterious thing. In every world, I had encountered the Void in some way shape or form.

[4]

[3]

BOOM!

I heard a series of explosions, felt them too.

I closed my eyes and sighed.

I accepted my fate.

The shockwave hit my body mercilessly, sending me flying. I grunted in pain as bone broke and organs rupture from the sheer force alone.

An inferno of unimaginable proportions engulfed my body, but I didn't feel the burning sensation, only warm numbness.

I did not scream, I made no sound, not that I would, or could even be heard.

I smiled one last time before I was vaporized.

Wonder what the next world will be like…

[-]

Next World: 15 years later, 2016, Phoenix, Arizona.

I, Kevin Swift -insert Giorno's theme here- have a dream!

To not have to wake up at 2:00 a.m. in the fucking morning on weekends anymore to deliver newspapers.

It was Sunday, I was on my bike, pedaling like an absolute trooper… and it was hot as fuck because Arizona.

It wasn't that I needed the cash, I made a killing off of being a freelance handyman, but sometimes people just didn't have shit that was broken and I needed a somewhat constant source of income.

Well, not needed, wanted.

… For video games, food, and my impulse buying habits.

Now, you may be wondering 'How the hell does some fifteen-year-old brat make a mint on freelance repair jobs?' My usual response would've been to throw a copy of Train Simulator 2012 right in the face of the idiotic bastard that refused to mind their own business.

But I'm bored, and I guess I can be civil about the matter just this once.

We all know isekai, right? Good.

I got the Truck-kun treatment back in my original world, but apparently I got hit a bit too hard, and now every time I die, I'm sent to another world like a fucked up Groundhog Day situation.

Yes, I've tried looking into why this happens. No, I still have no clue why. Indeed, I stopped questioning this shit centuries ago… or millennia.

… I stopped counting a very long time ago.

The TL;DR is that I've been alive more years than I care to remember, been to countless worlds, and know my stuff about basically everything, including repair jobs in pretty much almost every field.

Christ, I was becoming a blonde Hayate Ayasaki. I'm not sure how to feel about this.

Anyway, I took the newspaper job about two years ago, mostly as a way to get myself some extra cardio; made for a good leg workout too. Never skip leg day, my homies!

Another fact about constant Truck-kun: No New Game +

Every time I'm reborn, I start back from square one, and with whatever benefits the circumstance my births in that world give me. You have no idea how frustrating it can be to end up in another world after basically becoming a god then getting everything taken away at the start of every new adventure like a certain galactic bounty hunter with bird DNA.

I don't even get any cheat skills!

If I wanted anything close to that, I needed to study the local supernatural magic system, or whatever equivalent, and break that shit over my knee like the washed-up Nasuverse protagonist that I was.

I had to scrape by with whatever I could get my hands on and hope to Yog-Sothoth it was worth a damn. Oftentimes, sheer skill alone was enough to make it reasonably far, but unless you had some power to back it up, you were fucked.

You wouldn't believe the number of death worlds and crapsack worlds I've been thrown into, it's ridiculous.

So whenever I find a somewhat normal world, I sit my ass down and take a much-deserved break from the insanity that is my neverending story.

And as such, since this world was mostly normal I was resolved to kick back and relax… except for that one time I found a girl with ice powers five years ago… or that one really odd and super affectionate cat I had in elementary school that legit said "Nya!".

The cat took me on one hell of a crazy stealth/assassination mission against this politician that could read minds. Also ran into a super-secret organization that I had to fight along the way, the… Something… Something… of Humanity. I wasn't really paying attention at the time, I was too busy ripping out throats with their own super-advanced tech.

… So many bodies.

Then there were my scattered memories of the time I visited Greece when I was six, met a cute redhead fox girl, then got my memory erased… well not completely, you pick up a few tricks when you've been around the spiral of reality like I have, resisting a magic memory wipe through sheer force of will wasn't too hard.

Other than that, I could safely give zero fucks even though this world was obviously on some Rosario + Vampire shit, and indulge in my favorite activity… doing random bullshit!

Which is why, if anyone looked out their window at this ungodly hour, they'd see some random blonde jackass standing on his speeding bicycle, popping a wheelie, tossing papers left and right while vibing to some Eurobeat on his headphones.

It's fun to be an absolute badass of epic proportions.

[-]

I parked my bike by the front door of the newspaper building.

A moderately-sized, one-story, rectangular building composed of drab gray bricks and a flat roof. Place couldn't look blander if it tried.

I went inside the building, headed down the first hall on the left, and entered the door on the right at the end of the hall.

I walked into a standard office, it only had the bare essentials. A desk, chair, and file maintenance cabinet, that's it. Not even a single picture frame or any other sort of decorations to spice things up. Other than the large stack of papers sitting on the desk, nothing indicated that this room was even being used.

I brought my attention to the man behind the desk.

The guy was big, hella big, like this motherfucker was ready to sumo some poor fool into the next dimension kind of big.

He was beefy, had a head of short brown hair, two small brown eyes, and a BMI that would make Gluttony from Fullmetal Alchemist proud. He had no neck, just all flabby chins, ten in total. They practically rolled out of his ugly, khaki-colored, button-up shirt.

His name was Davin Monstrang, and he was my boss.

Thank god this wasn't a NTR Hentai world, cause if it was, he'd be suspect numero uno, and I'd have an excuse to put the baseball bat in my room to good use.

"Done with my route, boss man," I informed him, stretching my arms.

As usual, all I got was a grunt, he didn't even look up from his papers. "And I suppose you want your paycheck?"

"Of course, you don't exactly pay me in Kit Kat bars, now do you?" I mocked with a cheeky grin.

He snorted as he got out of his chair.

The two of us had something resembling a begrudging friendship. I think it came from the fact that I wasn't intimidated by him in the slightest, that and he definitely figured out that I'm far older than I look.

He was the same too…

He rummaged through his drawers for a few seconds before pulling out an envelope and tossing it to me.

I caught it. "Thanks."

"Try not to spend it all in one place, brat." He said dismissively.

"I'll be sure to spend it in the most classy of ways," I assured him.

He actually looked at me this time, a curious eyebrow raised. "Blackjack and hookers?"

I nodded sagely. "Blackjack and hookers."

I got something resembling a laugh out of him. "Get the hell out of my office, brat."

I walked out smirking.

I wasn't actually going to spend my money on the aforementioned degeneracy. That was just a dumb joke between us.

Besides, I got that out of my system five worlds in. It was epic… and messy.

It took so many showers to get rid of the shame.

I vowed to never do that shit again.

Now, what's on for today's schedule?

Absolutely fucking nothing!

I'll head to the gym, I guess.

On the topic of gyms, who the fuck names their international gym chain Mad Dawg Fitness?

Seriously, that name practically screams 'Bottom of the Barrel'.

[-]

A beautiful woman in a dark gray business suit, with short, dark brown messy hair frowned.

"Hmm, I have the inexplicable urge to punch a blond in the face." She mused over her sudden surge in bloodlust.

[-]

Just as I was about to grab my bike, I heard a noise, one that I was all too familiar with.

Pained whimpering. It sounded like it was coming from the alley next to the building.

I paused and sighed as I threw my legs over my bike. I didn't want to get involved with this.

I heard another whimper just as my foot made contact with the pedal.

My heartstrings were pulled… fuck it.

I sighed again and got off my bike. Walking around the corner of the building, I spotted the source of the whimpering.

A fox, a red fox to be precise.

This was odd since these kinds of foxes don't live in this part of the state, you'd find them up in Flagstaff.

Red flag one.

It had two tails.

Red flag two.

It was bleeding pretty hard, and had wounds on it that looked like it got into a fight with a rabid rottweiler having a seizure.

Red flag three.

[-]

The woman in the suit frowned again, her eye twitched.

"Now I really want to punch a blond in the face." She growled menacingly.

[-]

I approached the injured, and most likely supernatural creature slowly.

It was… unconscious.

Alright, let's get this over with.

I scooped the poor thing up in my arms, irritating its wounds a bit, and causing it to whimper once again.

"Sorry," I apologized absentmindedly.

As I approached my bike, I took off my shirt and stuffed it into the basket, creating a makeshift pillow for my new furry friend.

I gently set the fox down into the basket, then hopped onto my bike.

[-]

It was around 4:30 a.m. when I got home.

I locked up my bike before I rushed up the surprisingly dangerous set of stairs, bloodied fox in my arms. Seriously, it was like these things were made to fuck up someone's day, just a bit too high and close together that made it annoying to climb if you weren't paying attention.

Damn near got me a few times, and I've been through more crazy-ass situations than you could shake a stick at.

I opened the door to the apartment I shared with my mother, who was currently in France on business. She was usually out of the country due to her job. Even at a young age, I was left alone at home by myself; that was fine though, I'm a grown-ass unwilling dimensional traveler, I can take care of myself.

Though the validity of that statement is questionable considering how little I value my own life. You get kind of fucked up in the head when you realize that death really has no consequence to you.

The Swift residence was a nice two-bedroom and two bathroom apartment. The master bedroom had an office connected to it; the moderately sized kitchen was connected to the living room.

Lining the walls were a few baby pictures of myself with my mother, and a few of my friends growing up in this world. I made sure to look as smug as I possibly could in each photo.

I shut the door as I walked in, and threw off my shoes.

I quickly made my way into my room and placed the injured fox on my bed while I fished out the first aid kit I had under it.

My room wasn't the most decorated thing in the world. A full-sized bed, a dresser, a gray lamp, a bookcase filled with fantasy books, and manga. A few anime posters, Fooly Cooly, Cowboy Bebop, the classics…

Even had a few rather… ecchi figures on my dresser to show peak, and most importantly, cultured degeneracy. No one can make me regret buying that pole dancing Rias Gremory figure! I had a few guitars lined up against the wall, a classic, an electric, and a bass. Didn't have an amp for the last two, but I used them for Rocksmith.

I opened the first aid kit, grabbing the disinfectant and cotton balls; I had to clean the wound first.

The fox was small, looked like it was just a kit.

I internally shivered. That word… it brought back the memories of so many bad Naruto fanfictions, mine included.

I got to work. Poor thing had been through hell; far worse than what I saw at first glance. I'd even had to give the thing stitches, some of the worst wounds had even ripped apart the fatty tissue, and even the muscles. It was a good thing I kept more than a doze first aid kits around the house; being cautious was never a bad thing.

At the very least, I didn't have to perform surgery. I didn't have a setup for it, but I've made do with much worse than household appliances.

I went through all of the cotton balls when I was finally finished cleaning the fox. Now for the stitches.

I raised a curious eyebrow as a peculiar phenomenon happened right before my eyes. "… Oh?"

Just as I was about to grab the needle, the wounds started closing, little particles of light gathered around the injuries. Muscles, fatty tissue, and skin all began reforming.

I nodded in approval. "Four out of ten, not bad for self-healing, especially doing so unconsciously."

I'd seen more than my fair share of healing magic in other dimensions; hell, I even became a healer and even a medical professional in some worlds. I'd seen, and done, far more impressive feats. But again, this ain't too bad.

Light element too. Then I supposed this furball draws power from the Raindance, or whatever they called it in this world. Now, was this science-based or magic-based…?

Guess I won't have to do some stitches, the gauze and bandages would do; I'm not risking an infection.

By the time I was done, the fox looked like an adorable little mummy; it was also made quite clear that it was female. Yay for pronouns!

Still unconscious though. She'd need the rest, healing powers or not, before she could start moving.

I threw away the used cotton balls and made my way to the bathroom down the hall. I turned on the lights with my elbow and began washing the blood off my hands.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Dull blue eyes, with dark circles under them, stared back at me. I had neck-length, messy, blond hair; some of my bangs decided that they liked covering my left eye, giving me an almost emo look. I was rather muscular for my age… my biological age.

A small thing about souls is that if sent into another body, they can alter certain biological aspects regardless of genetics.

Which is probably why I was six feet, even though I was fifteen. Though, in all fairness, I was always a pretty tall guy growing up in my first life.

My first life…

I can barely even remember it. Hell, I can't even remember the first name I ever had.

I bit my lip at the thought.

When I realized that fact many lives ago…

It hit me… it hit me hard.

I slapped the sides of my face, the slight sting bringing me out of my depressive state.

Alright, gym time.

Mad Dawg Fitness, absolutely retarded name aside…

[-]

"There it is again!" The woman in the suit yelled, the inexplicable urge to murder a blonde smartass surging through her. "What is up with today!?"

[-]

The gym was actually a very quality gym. Plus it was open twenty-four hours a day except on weekends, they close at 4:00 p.m. on weekends.

I glanced at the unconscious fox still in my room. It looked like she was sleeping peacefully now.

I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water before heading to the gym.

I'll make sure to change out the bandages and gauze when I get back. Well, if I even needed to by then.

[-]

[Ring Out!… Perfect!]

The announcer of the arcade game I was playing yelled as I won… again.

"You bitch!" Came the outraged shout of my friend, Eric Corrompere.

We met in elementary school, he followed me around like a lost puppy; I found it kind of endearing, so I threw him a bone.

He was a good kid…

Was a good kid, ugh.

At a certain point, he discovered the wonders of the female form and turned into a pervert that would make a certain Oppai Dragon shed a tear of pride.

I mean, I'll be real here, there's nothing wrong with being a perv. But there's being a perv, and there's being a sex offender. Fucking Christ, the only reason he hasn't been expelled is because his dad is the principal of our school… and is arguably worse than he is.

But where Eric is an Issei on the perv scale, I can proudly say I'm somewhere near Arata Kasuga from Trinity Seven.

Eric had spiky brown hair reminiscent of a certain perverted best friend from To Love Ru, and dark eyes, we were around the same height. Though unlike me, he was a rather lanky dude, long arms, and legs, and large feet. He reminded me of a monkey.

I gave him a bland look. "Bitch, you know damn well not to challenge me on the weekends." I swiped my card into the machine, as did Eric. "I'm grumpy as fuck, and sore when noon comes."

He pointed an accusing finger at me. "That isn't my fault, blame yourself and your suicidal workout routine!"

I blinked in genuine confusion. "Suicidal? Fam, that's one of the least intensive routines I've come up with."

He paled and looked at me as if I had become an Elder God. "Least intensive!?" He shouted again. "I couldn't get through a third of the routine and I was left sore for nearly a month!"

"Bruh, it wasn't that bad," I smirked.

"You do handstand push-ups… as a warm-up."

"So?"

"On a pull-up bar!"

Okay, he kind of had a point… but then again.

"You're never going to get a girlfriend if you're too much of a pansy to put in some good old fashioned hard work."

He scowled. "I don't want to hear that from someone who already had a girlfriend since the tail end of middle school."

My response was a shit-eating grin.

Lindsay Diane had been my girlfriend since middle school. She was a cute tomboy that loved soccer. She used to not like anime… but the first episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood fixed that right up, and we binged the whole thing over spring break, as well as a few others.

Getting her to play videogames with me was also pretty easy considering her competitive spirit.

I remembered the time we played Mario Kart together; I let her win a few races when we first started, she started talking shit… and then I did the most heinous, awful, heartless, and sinful thing anyone could do in any video game.

I Blue Shelled her.

The memory flashed by so clearly.

The look of shock on her face as she was hit just before the finish line on the final lap, the horror as I finished in first and she finished in fifth place.

… She was salty for weeks!

"Alright, alright, fine. I'll admit it…" I gave him the smuggest look I could. "I'm the one going harem route instead of you."

He grabbed me by my shirt. "You heartless bastard!"

"Yeah, that sounds like me."

"How could you do this to your best friend!?"

"Easily." My voice held not a hint of shame. "Now, shut up and pick your character."

The game we were playing was this world's version of Soul Calibur. Funny thing about this world, some things were the same, some things were different, especially when it came to anime and videogames.

Naruto was now Shinobi Natsumo, Bleach was now White Out, Fairy Tail was now Furry Tail. I wasn't touching that last one. And every single one of them had turned into a complete fanservice anime to the point where you could compare this shit to Senran Kagura.

It's a shining miracle Fullmetal made its way through without any changes.

"Dude, if you keep using Bad Dream, I'm quitting." Eric glared at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll let Jesus take the wheel."

I hit random and got this world's version of Voldo.

I deadpanned. "Jesus, I'd like the wheel back."

"Ha!"

[-]

An adorable yip greeted me as I got home.

The fox, the mummy fox, stared back at me with its… emerald eyes.

… Huh? Cool.

"Oi, don't think you should be out and about so soon," I said locking the door. "You looked like absolute hell when I found you. Gonna be getting blood stains out of my shirt for days."

She looked somewhat embarrassed by that. Her eyes followed me as I moved, her tails swaying back and forth as if they had minds of their own. Quite hypnotizing actually.

The bandages did their job alright, but I noticed the splotches of red leaking through some of them.

"Alright, come on," I motioned her to follow me as walked to the living room couch, pulling out another first aid kit before sitting down. "Let's get you cleaned up."

I patted the cushion next to me, watching as the red fox cautiously made its way to me before hopping on the couch.

Wonderful, she understands human speech, or at the very least, gestures.

I reached out my hand slowly, it flinched as it saw my hand approach. I paused.

"It's alright, cutie, I ain't gonna hurt you," I reassured before gently placing my hand onto her head.

She stiffened for a moment, but then paused, tilting her muzzle to sniff my hand. She yipped once, seemingly excited, and practically melted at my touch as I scratched her behind the ears.

"Aw, that's adorable," I cooed. "But let's get you out of those bandages first."

She let out a whine at my words, but did as I told her.

I placed the bloodied bandages on the table in the living room, as well as the bloody cotton balls I used to clean her fur.

"There you go, good as new," I said as I got up.

I threw the dirty medical supplies in the kitchen trashcan.

"Gonna take a shower, give me a few minutes, I'll make us something to eat after that."

I got an eager yip at the mention of food.

Grabbing some clothes from my room, it didn't take long for me to get cleaned up as I left the bathroom twenty minutes later with only a pair of boxers and gray sweat pants on.

I paused at the fox's reaction to me walking out of the bathroom. It just stared at me, its face redder than usual…

Wait, is that… !?

"Holy shit!" I yelled as I rushed to its side. "Jesus Christ, you're bleeding from your nose. I know you should've rested up some more before moving around."

It blinked at my words, then started nibbling at my fingers in protest.

"O-Oi, fine." I caved in almost immediately. "Ugh, gotta clean up the blood again."

After throwing away some now bloody tissues, and washing my hands, I got started on lunch.

Let's see, magic fox…

No thumbs… yet.

Making pizza!

Like I needed an excuse to make pizza.

Didn't take long to make, I had the dough risen and ready days ago, plus my homemade tomato sauce.

I perfected the art of making pizza! Throughout the dimensions, I was known as the Dough Master… among many, many other retarded titles.

My favorite being Sir Stabs-a-lot!

It wasn't long before me and my new furry friend were back on the couch with a dozen or so slices of fresh pizza. Though she dug into hers with a lot more vigor than expected; luckily, no stains to clean up.

Soon I had a very happy, and thoroughly stuffed fox sitting in my lap enjoying head pats, and belly rubs.

The next few hours were spent laying down on the couch watching dumb internet videos on my laptop while I idly played with the adorable fox, who had decided that my chest was now its new bed.

"Oh, I can't wait till my girlfriend sees you, you'll melt her heart," I said absentmindedly.

The mood of the room changed on a nearly visible level the moment I said 'my girlfriend', I think the temperature even dropped a few degrees.

I saw the fox glaring at me.

Oh, you've got to be shitting me, she's jealous.

"Oi." I booped her on the snoot. "Don't be like that, Lindsey is a great girl."

She let out the fox version of a "Hmph!" and turned away, refusing to look at me.

"Hey," I poke her in the side.

Another "Hmph!"

"Come on," I poked her again. "look at me."

Once again, "Hmph!"

Time to drop the bomb. "Come on, Lilian, you're going to start making me sad."

The fox froze, then mechanically turned her head to me, her green eyes comically wide.

I had the smuggest look on my face. "Did you think a couple of stuffy old foxes past their prime could completely erase my memory?"

There was something to take pride in if you could even slightly resist being mindwiped by a nine-tailed kitsune while being a complete normie human.

She stared at me for a few more seconds before letting out the fox version of a sigh.

I closed my eyes the moment she started glowing. I knew where this was going, and was not in the mood for a foxy flashbang.

My train of thought was proven correct when I noticed a harsh brightness from beneath my eyelids.

Good call me.

I opened my eyes when I felt a soft hand caressing my face. I felt a human-sized weight on my waist. She was straddling me.

"Beloved…" That single word held so much raw emotion. So much love and adoration, yet confliction, and even doubt.

I opened my eyes…

She was absolutely gorgeous. Flawless pearly skin, shimmering red hair that fell over her shoulders and down her back, it reminded me of a blazing fire. An hourglass figure with large breasts, a narrow waist, and wide hips. Her eyes shimmered like emeralds. She was about a head and a half shorter than me.

Though one fact did stand out about her… aside from the fox ears atop her head and the two swaying tails behind her.

… She was butt naked.

I'll push that elephant in the room to the side; for now, I had a heartfelt reunion to get back to.

Her smile was somber. "I'm… glad you remember."

"Not fully, just bits and pieces, sheer force of will can only get you so far, even against magic-based memory wipe," I informed her.

She idly ran her hand through my hair, her longer than average nails gently scratched against my scalp, and damn did it feel wonderful.

"Then… what do you remember?" Her voice, as lovely as it was, sounded small, almost scared. She wouldn't meet my eyes.

I don't think the gravity or implications of my words hit her.

I pinched her cheeks and made her look at me. "I remember finding this cute redheaded kitsune in the woods crying, and I didn't like that, so I decided to cheer her up," She pried my hands off of her now red cheeks, giving me a pout so cute it was illegal. "Other than when you told me your name, I don't remember much after that." My brows furrowed together. "I think I dropped some poor fool into a pitfall trap."

Lilian giggled. "That's because you did."

Eyebrow raised, this was interesting. "Oh?"

"Shortly after we met, you were discovered by…" She took in a deep breath, "My clan. You ran for it, dragging me with you. Then you, with some slight help from me, proceeded to outsmart, outmaneuver, out skill, and straight-up humiliate more than a dozen or so kitsune hundreds of years older than you for about two hours." Her shoulders shook as she tried to hold her laughter in. "You made so many people angry that day. Half of us thought you were part kitsune yourself!"

I was probably older than most of them by a country mile.

I laughed. "Heh, that sounds like me."

"Then… then…" She bit her lip. "Kevin, I'm so-"

"It's fine, don't sweat the details," I waved off whatever apology she was about to give me.

It wasn't the first time I had been memory wiped, and I sure it wouldn't be the last.

She blinked. "Y-You're not upset?"

I shrugged. "I'm alive, aren't I?"

"B-But…"

"And you're here, aren't you?"

"I… you… huh?"

I gave her a teary-eyed dejected look. "… Did you really think that little of me?"

"Ah! No! Of course not!" Lilian flew into a panic as she tried to cheer me up. "My Beloved is the best!"

I began snickering. "All too easy."

She looked at me blankly before groaning into my chest. "I don't think this is how our character dynamic was supposed to work at all."

I blinked and gave the redhead a look. "Character dynamic? Wait, can kitsune break the fourth wall?"

I had been to a world where that was the case. It was one of the first, if not the first world I had ever been isekai'd to. I didn't remember much about it, but it was in Japan during the late sixteen century. Shit was a mish-mash of Nioh, and Sekiro, and ten times more anime. I think I had like two kitsune girlfriends, gained immortality for a while, then died around the mid-1800s. Forgot how I bit the bullet though.

She gave me a vulpine grin. "Maaaaaybe."

"Please tell the author, animators, or whatever that they can jump off their own ass and die."

A brick materialized above my head. As it fell down, I moved out of the way just before it hit me, and it harmlessly bounced off the loveseat and onto the carpeted floor.

"Ha!" I gave a taunting laugh. "Next time, bring your A-Game, jackass!"

Lilian looked at me with awe. "Did you just taunt the author with malicious intent, and get away with it?"

"Yes."

"That is so hot…" She said wistfully.

I sighed, by Cthulhu this girl…

"Now…" Her voice took on a slightly more menacing tone. "About this girlfriend you have."

I rolled my eyes. "Lindsey is an amazing girl, Lilian."

She pouted and groaned. "But I want to be your amazing girl."

"All things considered, she actually might be up for sharing, if you're cool with it that is."

"Wait," She gave me a look. "She would be okay with it?"

I had no doubts that the yōkai of this world had different values than humanity. Fuck's sake, nearly every world I was in that had yōkai considered it odd to not go the harem route. Which was oddly consistent.

I learned a lot of things were odd on my unwilling adventures, which gave way to a need to adapt to any given situation, socially or otherwise. Had the consequence of making my morality as flexible as a fucking gummy worm, but whatever works.

"You know how much of a bad influence I can be," I began.

She smirked slyly. "I am a testament to that, yes."

"Hush, you." I started scratching her behind the ears, causing her to melt at my touch.

Anime leads to degeneracy. Degeneracy leads to culture. And culture leads to realizing that your seemingly laid back boyfriend can take you to pound town hard enough for you to not be able to walk for the whole weekend and keep a limp the week after.

It was after that series of sexual events that led Lindsey to say, "Alright, I'm going to need another girl or two to help me wear you down, because oh my god, as much as I loved what you did to me last Friday, I like walking. And I can't go into soccer practice with a limp now can I?"

It also helped that she was bi…

My expression turned serious. "Now, for my questions."

Her face lit up. "Ah, yes, by three sizes are-"

"How the hell did you end up on death's door when I found you?"

"Uh…"

"Why are you in America? I thought you were supposed to be in Greece?"

"Well… uh… you see…"

"Did you run away from home, young lady?"

Lilian shrunk more and more at each question. "B-Beloved, listen…"

I narrowed my eyes. "Lilian…"

"Okay, okay. Inari-blessed, I never knew you could be so scary, Beloved." She pouted.

I gave her a look. "So, those answers…?"

"Fine. I was attacked by this crazy Inu while making my way through the city."

An Inu? A dog yōkai. Some worlds they were born and bred for battle, in others they were harmless puppies unless wronged. No real in-between.

"And?"

"We moved to Florida a couple of years ago. Uh, Tampa Bay specifically."

Ah, of course, she moved to one of the craziest states in America.

"And?"

"Yes, I ran away from home." She bit her lip, a troubled look in her eyes. "I… I don't want to talk about it."

I wrapped my arms around her. "That's alright." I rubbed her back, causing her to relax. "So, I'm guessing you don't have a place to stay."

Lilian looked nervous now. "Yeah… I was wondering if…"

I kissed her on the top of her head. "Of course you can stay here," I gave her a warm smile. "Like you even had to ask."

Her face lit up as my words sunk in.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" She hugged me tightly as nuzzled her face into my chest. "I knew I made the right choice when I chose you to be my mate!"

Mate?

Hmmm, that term sounded vaguely familiar. I know… I know damn well I've heard it before. Especially with the context that I knew.

The word 'Mate' was basically the yōkai of saying 'Lover', and incredibly important, and cherished lover too mind you.

Had I been to a world similar to this one before?

Eh, all the yōkai worlds tend to mesh together, and that's not counting the worlds with more than just yōkai.

"Now then…" Her voice took on a much more sensual tone as she pushed herself up on my supine form, straddling me once again.

Her large, beautiful breasts hung there practically screaming at me to grab a handful.

I was no stranger to absurdly gorgeous women. Fuck's sake, it was practically a common sight for me during my never-ending quest to suffer more than Natsuki Subaru.

Though not even thousands of years could temper humanity's absolute power of horny from my soul. Not even when born as something other than a human.

Seriously, the first time I was born as an elf, I gave the world a population boom so large we outnumbered that world's human population; and the only reason humanity out populated the elves was because the knife eared fucks only screw once every hundred or so years.

Hell to the fuck nah!

I was married in that world, and I made damn sure that I kept my hot as sin elven wife thoroughly satisfied every day. Elves are lewd, let no one tell you otherwise.

There was also some Demon King thing going on, along with this Hero of Prophecy bullshit. But I gave no fucks, forged a marriage alliance with the Dark Elves and a few other races, then basically had a lot of hot, raunchy sex until I died at the tender age of 1534 years old surrounded by… over a hundred thousand of my own children.

Yeah, I went overboard… but it was fucking worth it!

"Beloved?" Lilian's voice broke me out of my thoughts, her emerald eyes looked at me with concern.

I shook my head. "Oh, uh, sorry. I was monologuing."

She gave me an amused look. "Does that happen often?"

"I monologue as much as a certain fish-eyed loner, except a lot less depressing." I snarked.

She shrugged. "Well, whatever." She gave me a look of lust and desire. "Now, let us deepen the more physical aspects of our relationship."

I put my hand over her mouth as she leaned down for a kiss. "Okay, this went on far enough,"

I felt her lick my hand, but instead of recoiling, I just deadpanned at her. She, in turn, looked at me with that same mix of amusement and lust, her tails swaying left and right.

"Lemme get this straight. The first thing you want to do after seeing your friend," I paused as I felt her frown against my hand the moment the words 'friend' left my mouth. "In over nine years, is to fuck like rabbits?"

She looked me right in the eyes. "Yes."

I took my hand off her face and sighed. "When was the last time you had a glass of water?"

"Huh?"

"Cause God damn, girl, you are thirsty!"

Seriously, I knew actual succubi that were less lustful, and forward than her.

She tilted her head, confused. "Eh?"

"Listen, Lilian, we gotta pace ourselves here-" I saw the suggestive smirk on her face. "It wasn't a euphemism… not completely. Now, I need to introduce you to Lindsey first," She frowned at the mention of my girlfriend. "But even before that, we need to get you some clothes, and just generally get you situated."

Lilian whined. "But I want you now."

I rolled my eyes. "You'll have your cake and eat it too later. Right now, you just survived a near-death experience and need to rest. Doctor's orders."

"Hmmm, no. I don't see a doctorate degree on you." She said, giving me a sly look.

I deadpanned.

Woman, I have been a doctor in more lifetimes than there have been years in your life; and considering you're a kitsune, those might be quite a few years than most of humanity can reasonably live.

She suddenly glared at me. "I get the feeling that you just thought of something incredibly rude."

I gave her a look. Alright, time to troll.

"Lilian said as if she could read minds." I began to narrate in a dramatic British voice. "The lovely redhead proving to all the readers that no matter what reality, women are sensitive to mention of their age. How pathetic."

"Why are you suddenly British?" Lilian blink. "Are you… are you narrating right now?"

Yes, yes I am.

"She stated the obvious as the young man on the sofa brooded about her well being with the intensity of a certain someone contemplating how they would get their vengeance for the Uchiha Clan."

"Why are you doing this? I-Is this is a bit?"

Because I'm a petty ass piece of shit, and yes.

"The lovely Lilian asked as if their incursion on their very own clan nine years ago hadn't answered all of her questions."

"You're going to keep doing this until I listen, aren't you?"

"Once again, she asked the obvious. Not realizing that the person she chose as her mate was one of the most spiteful creatures in the known universe." I continued. "Comprising his being, he was ninety-nine percent spite, and one percent… of love."

Her face lit up with joy. "For me!?"

I crushed it with just as much joy. "For the Spanish Inquisition!"

"Ack!" An arrow went through her heart, not the fun kind.

"And I can assure you, no one expected that."

"Alright, alright, fine!" She threw her hands in the air. "I'll rest."

I activated head pat protocols.

Once again, she melted at my touch, though I smiled at her attempts to glare at me.

I slipped out from under her in one smooth motion. "I'll be back."

I got an affirmative hum from her as I made my way back to my room. Grabbing a fuzzy blanket, I headed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water.

You thought I was kidding about the water? Healing powers or not, she was probably a bit loony from losing so much blood. She needed to drink a lot of fluids to get that back. It was only due to her supernatural physiology that she didn't need an actual blood transfusion.

I made my way back into the living room, and draped the blanket over Lilian. "Here, it's pretty chilly in the apartment."

"And yet you're still not wearing a shirt."

"Because I like the cold. You're not complaining, are you?"

She grinned as she gave me the once-over. "Nope."

I handed her the glass of water. "Drink up."

"Ah, thank you, I was a bit parched."

I nodded as I sat down next to her. Silence took over the room as I leaned back into the loveseat closing my eyes.

"So, what now…?" Lilian asked.

I cracked an eye open, seeing my laptop still on.

"Netflix and chill?" I proposed.

"Net… flix?"

"Yeah, the streaming service." My brows furrowed as a thought went through my head. "Wait, how up to date with human technology are yōka?"

"Most live side by side with humanity in secret, but my family is rather…"

"Old school?"

She nodded. "Old school."

"Alright then, movies or anime?"

She grinned like Christmas had come early. "Anime!"

"Oh, I see you are a kitsune of culture as well." I quipped as I brought up Netflix on my laptop.

I could've used the big sixty-inch flat screen, but the remote was all the way over by the bookcase filled with Blu Rays and DVDs, and I was just that god damned lazy.

"Oh, oh! Can we watch Shinobi Natsumo? Wait, no, White Out!"

I gave her a wry smile. "I get the feeling you like ecchi battle anime, and probably harem anime with a lot of action."

She smiled proudly. "As expected of my mate, you already know my tastes."

Oh Lilian, you sweet summer child, it's time to troll you again.

"Now, there's nothing wrong with liking that, but I do think you should diversify your tastes a bit."

She pouted. "You sound just like Kotohime."

I ignored the comment. "That's why we'll watch a short series of my favorite genre."

"Shōnen?" She asked in a tone that was filled with so much hope.

… She just had to pick the sadist to be her mate, didn't she?

I smiled with such chaotic evil malicious intent that she visibly shivered, and brought up a particular anime.

Angel Beats.

"Depression, my dear Lily."

Around Six Hours Later

My sadistic smile was contrasted by the waterfall of tears from my eyes. Truly, I was a monster beyond forgiveness.

Lilian was curled up in her blanket crying and sobbing her eyes out.

She lasted until episode three.

I held on until episode nine. I could never get past episode nine and above without crying, even after countless years.

"Inari-blessed.." Sob. "She… She had his heart the whole time!" Her eyes widened. "The that means… what she said in the infirmary… about the… about the stranger he saved…"

Lilian began crying even harder.

Angel Beats? More like Angel Beats Your Feels to Death with a Two-by-Four!

Kevin Swift, you've done it again.

You made a young, beautiful girl cry through the power of Netflix and Chill!

Just wait until I show her Clannad, she'll be crying in a corner in the fetal position muttering about Dango.

[-]

I woke up groggy -as usual- come the next morning. I was not a morning person.

The morning sun shone directly in my eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to kick its plasmatic ass. But I got that out of my system lifetimes ago; we have a ceasefire… for now.

I took notice of the weight atop me, as well as the warmth that brought me a sense of peace and content that I hadn't felt in quite a while.

Looking down, I saw long tresses of beautiful red hair splayed across my chest, the morning sun reflected off of the silky hair, making each strand that caught light looking almost like flames.

Creamy white skin caught my eyes next. Making out the fair-colored flesh of bare shoulders wasn't hard. I couldn't see her face as the woman in question was a bit busy nuzzling into my chest. I could feel nearly every inch of her soft and shapely body pressing into me; as well as her warm breath against my chest.

Her arms were firmly wrapped around my torso, holding me like one big plushie.

Whoa, mama! She was pretty.

It may have been a common sight for me to see women this gorgeous throughout my lives, but like hell it ever got old.

I had many lovers in my lifetimes, sometimes just one, other times it'd be a full-on harem route. I wasn't really picky; letting things work themselves out was usually the best option surprisingly enough.

You would not believe the kind of shit that love and just general companionship can get you through.

Looking at the inhumanly sexy girl sleeping on me, a certain thought rolled through my head.

How close was this world's kitsune compared to the others I had known?

With that thought in mind, I reached my hand to her head, and began scratching a particular spot behind her ear.

Almost immediately, she let out a blissful sigh as her two tails began wagging back and forth, almost like that of a happy dog. It was adorable.

Her ears twitched as she droopily opened her eyes.

In that moment her form suddenly shifted.

I winced at the sound of loud static in my ears as Lilian… glitched out of existence.

Laying atop me was not Lilian, but someone else entirely.

She was a kitsune, the fox ears on her head and the three black tails, with white tips, behind her was a dead giveaway.

She was a gorgeous woman with proportions that put Lilian's to shame. Her long raven hair reached down all the way down to her backside; it was contrasted by her perfect, white skin that seemed to be crafted from the finest porcelain. Large, almond-shaped eyes the color of dark chocolate stared back at me with a gaze of love and admiration similar to Lilian.

Her pouty lips moved.

"Rokurou…" She breathed out, her voice holding the same emotions as her eyes.

I blinked.

"Beloved?" Lilian was back, she looked at me with concern. "Is everything alright."

"I… um…" I was a little tongue-tied at the moment.

That woman, she looked extremely familiar. I didn't know where or how, but I knew that I had known her at one point.

Her name, or our relation to each other… that was up in the air, but the say she said that name…

Rokurou.

That was familiar. I think I went by that name at one point, but I've been through so many worlds and had so many names… I don't even know where to start.

"Are you okay, Beloved?" Lilian looked even more concerned.

"Um, I think?" I furrowed my brows. "I think I went through some form of contrived foreshadowing, or whatnot."

Concern was thrown out the window as she smiled in pure joy. "To think you would be able to break the fourth wall so soon into our relationship, I just knew you were the perfect person to be my mate!"

No… I'm just genre-savvy, but whatever makes her happy.

[-]

A few minutes later and we were both in the shower… together.

I had neither the energy nor will to say 'no' after her continued insistence on washing my back.

It was too early for this shit, but at the very least, she promised not to do anything that would send us into smut territory yet. If this world was sending me toward the harem route, I'd need time, patience… and a lack of fucks to give.

I had one of these things.

You have three guesses, the first two don't count.

That and I needed an info dump on how supernatural shit worked in this world. The moment I figured that out was the moment this world gets its established logic rammed up its own ass with no remorse.

I felt soft hands glide across my back as hot water cascaded down onto both of us. Lilian was behind me, using body wash to clean my back… and feel me up. Mostly feel me up.

I gave a questioning hum as I felt Lilian wrap her arms around me, her breasts squished against my back as she rested the side of her head against me.

She let out a blissful sigh. "You grew up so much in just nine years."

I snorted. "And you barely aged at all since the last time I saw you."

"Kitsune age differently from humans, Beloved."

"I figured."

"You know, while I'm not complaining, you're taking all of this a lot better than I thought you would have."

To a lot of people, I'm probably taking this a bit too well.

"I've been through weirder," I answered vaguely.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, I'm super desensitized to basically everything. From absurdly beautiful women, to eldritch abominations. From super gray moral choices, to massive wars spanning fucking galaxies.

Besides, this is nowhere near the oddest thing that's happened to me.

That honor goes to the time I had tea with a super sexy version of Nyarlathotep, and Shub-Niggurath. I'm pretty sure they spiked my tea.

"Oh, is that so?" I felt Lilian's hands move lower.

"Oi, watch the hands," I said, making her freeze. "Remember, you promised me you wouldn't take it that far yet."

She let out a whine. "I did…"

"Don't be like that." I smiled. "Now come on, switch with me, I'll get your back this time."

She let out a hopeful gasp. "Then I don't mind your hands roam a bit."

I shook my head as we switched places. "Mmmhmmm."

[-]

After our bath, we got dressed.

I wore plain green pajama pants and an Angry Birds shirt.

Lilian helped herself to my favorite hoodie, just the hoodie. Christ, not even a week and she's already stealing my hoodies.

The hoodie in question was black, but had a design on the front of a pile of boxes with chibi foxes poking out of them, under the images in bold, orange letters the spelled out 'Foxy Boxes'.

Heh, Foxy Boxes.

Gets me every time.

"You actually turned it into a hoodie?" Lilian rhetorically asked, the oversized article of clothing doing little to protect her modesty.

I snickered. "And an apron too."

It was basically a tradition for me to make that design every world I was in.

"Of course you made it into an apron too."

I chuckled but said nothing more as I walked into the kitchen.

I frown marred my face as I began preparing ingredients, and I let my mind wander.

The supernatural, i.e. Lilian, all but barged through my doors. This also meant the problems that came with it. Not to mention the currently unknown circumstances that led Lilian to run away from home. That meant her family was probably searching high and low for her the moment she went missing; that would be an interesting meeting.

I'm not sure exactly what advice I gave her the day we first met, but for it to impact her that much that she's now head over heels for me…

I had kitsune lovers in the past, and while powers and abilities varied wildly, their social values and morals were all pretty similar.

When a kitsune chose someone as their mate, that person was basically meant the world to them. The amount of loyalty, love, and devotion… It was like getting hitched to a super hot alien in a deathmatch ran by a mad scientist. So you know it was some serious shit.

The first mate of a kitsune was their most important. They were the person they held closest to their heart, and any mate they had after that was judged by the standards the first mate set. Honestly, any mate they had after the first was just a fleeting interest.

Lilian was a two-tailed kitsune relatively young by yōkai standards, not to mention weak. Though I shouldn't make too many assumptions about this world's brand of yōkai.

All this meant that Lindsey was definitely getting exposed to the supernatural sooner or later. I held no illusion of being able to keep up some facade of normalcy, not that I ever even tried pretending to be normal in the first place.

It also meant that depending on how hostile this world actually was, I'd have to start bustin' caps left and right. Good thing I had a few dozen firearms hidden throughout the apartment just in case. That and some of the advanced tech that secret organization had.

But I was going to brief Lindsey on this string of events as soon as I could, not to mention I'd have to come clean about the whole constant reincarnation thing depending on how absurd the shit I pull is to everyone. Not that keeping it a secret would mean much. Some supernatural jackasses can tell how old your soul is just at a glance. You'd be surprised how many entities/gods flip their collective shit when they find a human soul as old as mine.

That and… well, both girls needed to know what they were really in for by deciding to be romantically involved with me.

I put the dish in the oven, washed my hands, and took my phone.

Kevin: Hey, I know this is a bit sudden, but I'm not going to be able to make it to school today.

Lindsey: Y? U sick?

Kevin: Old friend of mine for Greece just popped in yesterday. She ran away from home, and by all the luck in the universe, I ran into her over the weekend.

Lindsey: She?

Kevin: Yee.

Lindsey: She hot?

I glanced at Lilian, who noticed my stare, she sent a wink my way.

Kevin: Hella hot. And she's more thirsty than you could possibly imagine. Get over here as soon as you can, if you can. I need assistance dealing with this vixen!

Lindsey: After practice then.

Kevin: I'll have dinner ready for you when you get here.

Lindsey: You're the best! Love you.

Kevin: Love you too.

She is going to flip when she sees Lilian in kitsune form.

Welp, time to make some glazed bacon!

[-]

Lilian Pnévma sat down at the small table next to the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen. She made no effort to hide her staring; her gaze practically devouring his form.

I can't believe it. Inari-blessed, I just can't believe it… Not to mention he remembers me! Well, kind of.

She found him, the love of her life, Kevin Swift, by complete and utter accident. Lilian wasn't even looking for him when she ran away from her clan. The kitsune just picked a direction and went for it.

Lilian resisted the urge to pinch herself, cause if this was a dream, she had no desire to wake up.

Still, she must've used up all the luck in her life for this one chance encounter with the very same boy who's words nine years ago made her the person she was today.

"Live the selfish life you deserve…" She repeated under her breath, smiling.

The redhead sniffed the air, whatever her mate was cooking smelt divine.

Now, Lilian could cook, she wasn't as good as her maid, Kotohime, but she was quite good herself. But just the smell of what was being made right in this kitchen blew away nearly anything her maid had created.

She noticed him messing with one of those… phone contraptions she had seen a lot of throughout her short travels in the states.

"What were you doing, Beloved?" She asked as he began frying bacon.

"Oh, I was just texting my girlfriend." He said over his shoulder.

Lilian's eye twitched at the mention of his… girlfriend.

Though she was… quite upset, it did make sense that he would've gotten into a relationship by now, it had been nine years after all.

Her first meeting with Kevin had been only a few hours at most, but he had been the most amazing, fun… and sadistic person she'd ever met.

The Twins now had a phobia of children saying 'Come play with me.', and one of her uncles would pale at the mention of holes in the ground. The matriarch herself half-joked about adopting Kevin into the clan just so they could learn his tactics.

She sighed. Again, while she did understand in hindsight that the chance of him having a girlfriend was rather high, it didn't make her any less upset.

… Or jealous.

He was human though, he couldn't have understood the depths of her feelings. He couldn't have known just how much he affected her, how much he meant to her…

Though the option of sharing might be on the table if his confidence in this 'Lindsey' girl was sound, she wanted him for herself.

[-]

A blonde girl with a light tan stopped brushing her teeth for a moment.

"I get the feeling someone has no idea what they're in for when it comes to Kevin…"

She shrugged and continued with her morning rituals.

[-]

Kevin hadn't changed a bit either.

Physically he had, and Lilian had absolutely no complaints. She nearly started drooling at the sight of his muscular arms flipping bacon in a cast-iron skillet.

Personality-wise, it was like the boy she met in the woods all those years ago never left.

Not to mention how well he was taking… well, everything.

The fact that she was a yōkai? He shrugged and went on with his day.

Her attempts at seducing him? His response has headpats… not that she minded, but she desired something more intimate.

It may have been thinking little of him, but she nearly expected Kevin to be practically drooling all over her like most of the other boys she met across the states. If not that, then an inexperienced blushing wreck of a teenager that would have jets of blood coming out of his nose the moment he saw her naked. But nope, aside from the few appreciative glances, she didn't get much reaction out of him.

Though her maid taught her much about humanity, Kevin didn't act much like the humans she'd heard about. If anything, he was more like a yōkai himself, just on a purely moral basis.

Lilian was brought out of her thoughts as Kevin put down a large plate in front of her.

"Today's breakfast consists of eggs baked in a giant hashbrown with candied bacon." He said while pouring her a glass of orange juice.

Kevin sat next to her, placing some silverware down and grabbed a bottle of ketchup.

He licked his lips. "Alright, let's eat."

Lilian blinked. "Just one?"

"Of course, look how big it is, we're sharing." He smiled while nudging her with his elbow.

The kitsune almost swooned with how casual her beloved was being with her, it was as if nothing was out of place. As if she'd always been here, and this was just another day.

The only thing that could make this better is if he ripped off the hoodie she was wearing, bent her over the table, and had his way with her until she was nothing left but a bundle of twitching nerves.

Kevin looked at her oddly. "The food doesn't look that good, does it?"

"Huh?"

He gave her an amused smile while gently poking her side. "You're drooling, Lilian."

The redhead bombshell quickly whipped her mouth, laughing nervously.

She took a fork and began eating.

"Oh!" Lilian's eyes lit up at the first bite of the egg and bacon covered hash brown. "This is amazing!" Taking another bite, she made a near sensual moan of satisfaction. "It's so crispy, and the eggs are amazing!" Another bite, another moan. "And the bacon is incredible."

"Uh, Lilian…" Her beloved said in a slightly strained tone.

"Hmmm?" She looked at him curiously, he was blushing a bit. The sight of him blushing looked absolutely adorable to Lilian and filled her with a sense of pride.

He sighed. "You might not want to, you know, moan like that when you eat."

"Eh? Did I do something wrong?"

He whipped out his phone… which had been recording for some reason, and replayed her moans while eating.

"Please don't moan like you're recording for a hentai while eating," He looked off to the side. "Well, at the very least, not in public."

"Ufufufufu…" Lilian giggled. "So you want to be the only person to hear me moan?"

He blinked a few times. "Hmm, I will neither confirm, nor deny this."

The kitsune nearly started cackling in delight. He wanted her. There was no question in her mind that he wanted her.

"Alright, now that we're nice and settled, I've got some questions for you about kitsune, and yōkai in general."

"I… " Lilian raised an eyebrow. "Unfortunately, I don't know too much about other yōkai outside of kitsune, Beloved."

He nodded. "That's fine. I guess my first question would be this: What do you mean when you call me your mate?"

Oh my, her beloved opened up with the most dreaded question.

"Being my mate means…" That you're the most important, loved, and cherished person that will ever be in my life, and no one will ever be able to replace you. "Someone close to my heart."

She wanted to explain it bluntly, but as much as she loved him, the last thing she wanted was to pressure him into a relationship with her. And while some hussy had already sunk their claws into him, it did seem like there was a place in that relationship for her too.

"Mmmhmmm…" Kevin gave her an unconvinced look. "Alright, what do you want to know about me?"

"So, how far have you gone with this… Lindsey?" Lilian then took a sip of her orange juice.

Kevin smirked. "Oh, we've fucked."

She did a spit-take, nearly choking on her drink. "What!?"

"Like rabbits."

"What!?"

He gave a thoughtful look."You'd be surprised how fast you can run out of condoms when you really get into things."

"What!?"

"She was limping for nearly a week afterward too."

"That lucky bitch!"

"Though we do have to keep it moderation since she does have soccer practice and doing that with a limp isn't really feasible given all the running the sport requires."

Lilian slumped down in her seat by the end of his explanation. She looked as if her soul had left her body. A gloomy cloud appeared over her head, representing the depths of her despair.

"To think I was that far behind… !"

Kevin shook Lilian's shoulder. "Oi, come on now, don't be so glum, chum."

"Easy for you to say!"

"Now, for my next question, how does this magic stuff work?" He changed the topic.

Lilian blinked before giggling. "Magic stuff?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, like your healing trick."

She began laughing harder now. "Pffft, trick? They're called Arts."

There was a glint in his eyes. "Arts?"

"Yes, Arts." Lilian began her explanation in full. "We yōkai use an energy known as youki to power these arts."

Kevin nodded. "And I supposed kitsunes store their youki in their tails?"

Said tails swayed a bit more excitedly at their mention. "Correct, Beloved. As well as that, we kitsune are born with a special affinity to a specific element. There are thirteen specialized affinities that come in three tiers, or levels; Lower, Middle, and Upper."

"The first, or the Lower tier consists of what we call normal elements. They are Fire, Earth, River, Wind, and Thunder. The Middle tier contains Spirit, Forest, Ocean, Mountain, and Sound. And the last tier, the Upper, only contains two specialist affinities; Celestial and Void."

His smile widened slightly at the mention of the last two elements. How odd.

"I'll take a shot in the dark and say that you're a… Celestial Kitsune."

She smiled, proud at how perceptive her mate was, and conjured up a ball of light using her powers. "Yes, I am, Beloved. My powers are said to be the closest to the Divine. Among kitsune affinities, ours are supposedly one of the strongest, because the only other beings who are capable of wielding Divine powers are the Gods and their servants. No other race of yōkai can use Celestial powers. Every other affinity, including the Void, can be used by the other yōkai races to some extent."

"I see," The glint in his eyes grew stronger, almost predatory.

"Of course, that doesn't mean the other affinities are weak," Lilian continued. "Fire, for example. It's in the lower tier of kitsune abilities, but I don't think anyone can deny the destructive power of fire."

Kevin gave a thoughtful nod. "That is true, reminds me of one of the old family mottos, 'When in doubt, set 'em on fire. Apply more if necessary.'"

She sweatdropped. "That's an… interesting motto."

"So, can humans use youki?" He asked curiously, almost hopefully.

Ah, so this is what that was about.

Lilian gave him a soft smile. "I'm sorry, Beloved, but only yōkai can use youki."

Fortunately, or unfortunately, humanity could not generate youki. Which is why they had to even the playing field with technology, specifically, guns. And when the power of the atomic bomb was demonstrated during World War II, all of yōkai basically agreed to go into hiding.

Kevin didn't look upset by this news. He rubbed his jaw in thought, he looked so cute when he was thinking hard.

He took a long swig of orange juice. "Can youki be used to affect humans? Like through healings, and illusions?"

"Of course, Beloved."

He began to smile. "So, if it can affect the body and mind, then…" He sat up straight. "Lilian, I'd like to try something out."

She blinked. "Huh?"

"Can you funnel a small amount of youki into my body?" He asked something rather odd.

Lilian blinked once again, but shrugged.

Kevin must've wanted to see if there was any way he could manipulate youki even as a human. It was impossible for one to do such a thing, but it would be good for him to get it out of his system.

She took his hand in hers, and transferred youki into his body slowly.

It really was unfortunate that humanity couldn't use youki, it would've been so cool if she and her beloved could be some kind of Shōnen battle couple.

Such a shame-

"Well, that was easy." Her beloved sounded disappointed.

Disappointment was to be expected, after all, he was only-

Wait a minute…

She followed her beloved's gaze.

He stared dispassionately at… the glowing ball… of light… right above his palm.

Lilian shot out of her chair and slammed her hands on the table. "WHAT!?"

The ball o light fizzled out.

Kevin paid her flabbergasted shout no mind. "Yeah, considering how much you hyped it up, I'm astonished at how easy it was. I mean, sure, some of the concepts behind getting it to function for a human would completely go over the heads of the humanity of this world, but I expected a bit more of a challenge."

Lilian grabbed his shoulder and made him face her.

"Do you have any idea how many rules for… everything you just broke!?" Her voice was a cross between terrified and excited.

Terrified due to the implications that humanity could, in fact, use youki; and excited because that Shōnen battle couple thing might actually be a reality. She could already think of all the lovey-dovey combination attacks that they could-

No! Back to the world-shattering revelations.

Kevin gave her the smuggest look she'd ever seen. "Yeah, I am kind of a badass, aren't I?"

She was about to yell again when she remembered something odd he said.

Lilian looked at him seriously. "Hold on, what did you mean by 'the humanity of the world'?"

Kevin smirked. "I was wondering if you caught that."

"Beloved…?"

"You see, it was kind of the reason I wanted to take this slow, you know?"

"Not really?"

"Well, other than the fact that I refuse to cheat on Lindsey, so unless she gives you the okay, nothing is happening between us."

Inari-dammit!

She couldn't worm her way into his heart, but she had to play nice with the harlot that stole her mate.

"That and while I'm extremely flattered by your affections, it's been nine years Lilian, and we only met for a few hours at most. I'm not sure if you love me, or the idea of me. So, let's take this slow for now, alright."

The room turned dead silent at his words.

The redhead kitsune felt like her heart had stopped, and ice-cold water had been dumped onto her. She felt light-headed all of a sudden, her vision blurred.

Hearing the very person at the center of her heart doubt her love for him…

She nearly went into shock at the words alone.

Lilian masked her internal panic as well as she could. "Of… Of course, Beloved."

It obviously wasn't enough as his eyes softened, and he brought her into a hug.

"That was… cruel of me to say, I'm sorry."

Lilian wanted to shout at him. His words were more cruel than she could even begin to describe.

"What I'm trying to say here is that you only knew me for what? A few hours at most?" He began scratching her behind the ear again, hitting that one spot that made her melt.

She gave a blissful sigh as she leaned into him…

No! No, she was still mad. Very, very mad!

Lilian glared at Kevin, but he just gave her an amused smirk.

"Listen, you barely even knew me when we met nine years ago, and you only saw one side of me. Now's your chance to actually get to know me, but I don't want you rushing into things since I… Well, I might not be what you want in a mate."

… Might not be what she wanted in a mate?

He was everything she wanted in a mate. Ever since that day they met he meant the world to her. No one else would ever do.

Lilian herself thought her feelings for him had died down. After all, nine years was a long time, even for a kitsune.

But when she saw those blue eyes again… when she felt the warmth of his touch again.

Everything came flooding back tenfold.

He was there for her at her lowest when no one else so much as lifted a finger.

No one could replace him. No one could even compare to him.

"Listen, I suck at explaining things, so I'll be as blunt as I can." He ran his hand through her long, silky hair. "I want you to be happy, so I want you to make sure that you're comfortable, and absolutely sure you want me as your mate first before jumping into things, okay?"

She felt her heart skip a beat, her face flushed.

Lilian looked at him, her expression serious despite the blush. "I am going to fuck your brains out and no one can stop me."

Kevin looked taken aback. "Lilian… no."

She smiled mischievously. "Lilian, yes."

The redhead kitsune lunged at her beloved with the lewd intent.

[-]

It took a little while to get the love-struck kitsune to calm down, but other than that, breakfast went by quickly.

Now, Kevin wanted to see just what he could do with youki, and that meant testing.

Lilian stared at the ball of light in Kevin's hand unbelievingly as she funneled youki into him.

"Seriously, how is this possible?" Lilian still couldn't believe her eyes. "No human in recorded history -as far as I know- has been able to do something like this."

"You see, the concepts behind what I'm doing is probably a bit too advanced for the people of this reality."

"… This reality?"

"I'll explain that bit after this, okay."

She gave Kevin an odd look. "Alright then."

"When you first gave me some of your youki to use, I was able to manipulate it quite easily, all it took was some will power and the right mindset. Using an element, however, is where things get a bit complicated." He turned to Lilian. "Yōkai get their elemental affinity the moment they're born, correct?"

"Yes, but you also have to take in to account what species and elements the parents have."

He nodded to himself. "Ah, then that confirms it."

"Confirms what?"

"That yōkai have a phenomenon known as an Elemental Matrix."

Lilian tilted her head. She'd never heard of something called and… Elemental Matrix before.

"You see, an elemental matrix is something that is affected by both genetics, and the soul. It is what really determines an elemental affinity. And it's also probably the main reason yōkai can produce youki."

Lilian blinked. What in the world was he talking about, it all sounded like nonsense to her. As amazing as her beloved was, maybe he wasn't… all there in the head.

"The humans of this world do not have this phenomenon, and as such, can't produce youki. But I can since I have had experience manipulating very similar energies."

The humans of this world? He had experience doing what?

"But the lack of an elemental matrix does work in my favor a bit since I have nothing holding me back. And with a little effort, I can connect to a different dimensional domain meaning…" That ball of light Kevin created using Lilian's youki suddenly turned into a ball of ice floating above his palm. "I can freely choose whatever element I want."

Lilian's jaw dropped farther than it had ever done before. "How!?"

"Oh, that's simple." The ice ball in his hands started sparking with electricity. "Dimensional Domains, also known as Elemental Domains, is where those with elemental matrices draw their power from. It's one of the reasons why those with affinities relating to matter, for example, water, are able to use their element in place that are dry as a bone."

Lilian looked at him funny. "They don't, River and Ocean kitsune have to use the surrounding water in their current vicinity to use their Arts."

Kotohime was a River kitsune, that meant she could only manipulate fresh water.

Kevin paused, then sighed.

He flexed his fingers, a ball of water swirling into existence above his palm. "Then they're doing it wrong."

"Kobe!" He tossed it behind him like a basketball, a splash could be heard from the sink.

Alright, that was enough.

Lilian cut off her youki, and made Kevin face her. "Answers. Now."

Kevin smiled. "Alright, then allow me to reintroduce myself." He stood up from his chair, his eyes seemed to age an unfathomable amount. "My name, currently, is Kevin Swift, I am a reincarnation."

Silence reigned over the room.

Lilian gave him a puzzled look. "What…?"

By Inari, what in the world did he mean by 'reincarnation', such a thing was preposterous.

"I mean reincarnation as in that I'm not someone from this reality, and in fact, an outsider from this dimensional plane."

Lilian's head started to hurt. "What…?"

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Truck-kun."

"Oh!" Lilian gasped as the puzzle pieces finally fitted themselves as her beloved, at long last, started speaking in a way she could understand. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

In response, he sighed. "From now on, my pet name for you is now Weeb Fox."

"Urk!" Lilian doubled over as an arrow shot itself into her back out of nowhere. "Beloved, please, have mercy…"

His gaze held no pity. "Weeb Fox."

"Gurk." Another arrow.

Inari-blessed, that nickname was worse than the one her sister gave her!

But as ridiculous as his claims were, they did make some kind of sense. How else would a random six-year-old human child be able to outsmart kitsune hundreds of years older than he was?

Though that also brought into question how old Kevin himself actually was. Most likely a little over a hundred, but considering he has prior experience with energies extremely similar to youki, he could easily be a few hundred to a thousand.

That didn't matter though, he was still her mate; no matter how sadistically cruel he was.

"Back to the topic at hand," Kevin opened the fridge to get out more orange juice. "Reincarnation only implies singular, when, in fact, I've been isekai'ed countless times."

Countless times…?

Lilian stayed silent as Kevin continued on with his explanation, listening intently.

"In my first life, I was a normal American college student that died being struck by lighting while coming back from work in a thunderstorm." His blue eyes glazed over for a few seconds. "Can't even remember what my name was back then."

"Beloved, do you know how long this has been happening to you?"

He shrugged. "Who knows, if I were to give a rough estimate I'd say about four… maybe five?"

"Centuries?"

Kevin snorted. "Hundred-thousand years."

Once again, the room was silent; all expect the sound of Kevin pouring himself a drink.

Lilian felt a lump in her throat.

The implications alone were…

… By Inari.

"I have been through a lot of shit in my day Lilian." He took a big gulp of his drink. "I have led armies, I've ruled kingdoms, I have personally caused mass genocides, I've fought gods and beings above even them. Fuck's sake, I make it a personal goal for me to try and conquer the galaxy any time I end up in a space-faring sci-fi dimension. I have been the greatest of saints and the most black-hearted of evils; I'm not exactly what you'd call a sane person which is one of the biggest reasons I want you to take your time and not rush things with me."

Well, this certainly explained many things. Lilian wasn't sure if she should believe even half of this, or even if he was just messing with her.

… But the look in his eyes.

That gaze that basically screamed that he had lived far too long. It was something she'd only see in the eyes of the matriarch of her clan, Delphine Pnévma, one of three kitsune that had achieved the rank of kyūbi in the current era.

Something like that couldn't be faked.

"Then what about your… girlfriend," Lilian muttered bitterly.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Lindsey…" He sighed. "She's a big girl, she can make her own decisions when everything's out in the open." He took another gulp. "Honestly, I thought this world would've been one of the Break Worlds."

Break World?

Kevin must've noticed her confusion. "Break Worlds are worlds where I can relax and don't have to deal with some world-ending threat or whatnot. Just sit back, relax, and mess with the stock market." He snickered. "I made Apple go bankrupt so many times."

Stock market? Was this… Apple a company or something?

"Did you do that this time too?" Lilian inquired.

"Nah, I wanted to try something new. I'm a freelance handyman on most days, but I deliver newspapers on weekends. The newspaper job doesn't give me much cash, but it does get me out of the house. Plus my boss is pretty cool, and alright enough guy to shoot the shit with, probably a yōkai too."

Lilian blinked. "He's what!?"

"I said probably. You didn't think you were the only yōkai I know, did you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lilian pouted. "I was hoping I was."

"Well, before I say anything else, I do have another question about this world."

"Hmm?"

"Are yōkai the only supernatural force here, or are there others?"

"Only yōkai."

"Disappointing, I was hoping that at least we'd have some Scandinavian mythology in the mix. Round of some valkyries and cart bomber some assholes while blasting Ride Of The Valkyries. Good times." He looked out the window, a smile on his face as he was no doubt reminiscing. "The post bombing orgies were awesome too."

"Post bombing what!?"

"They liked to call it 'Taking me to Valhalla'." Kevin gave a low whistle. "Aside from the hangover, it certainly felt like it."

Lilian slumped in her chair looking like the soul had just left her body. "Uuuuugh."

She felt him pat her on the shoulder. "There, there. Hey, look at it this way, at least you know I've got experience."

"Uuuuugggggghhhhhhhh." She groaned louder. "I don't need to hear more about your sexual exploits."

Great, not only was the character dynamic that was supposed to be between them flipped on its head, but her beloved was the most abnormal human in the history of forever! He did the impossible; a human that could control, and utilize youki. Absolutely absurd, but here it was.

Inari-blessed, he really was eternally stuck in the heat-seeking headlights of Truck-kun!

Oh goodness, this meant that she fell for a fossilized grandfather!

She turned to Kevin, seeing how he leaned back in his chair, still shirtless. His sculpted muscles almost made him look like a Greek statue.

Lilian nearly started drooling.

"Okay, a very sexy grandfather…" Her nose started bleeding out of excitement.

"So, shall we continue?" He held his hand out.

Lilian quickly wiped away the blood from her nose, "Of course!" and quickly grabbed his hand and began funneling youki into his body. "What element are you going to try next?"

He smiled. "Void."

"That might be a bit too dangerous…"

"B-Bloved, I'm not sure that's such a good idea." Lilian said nervously.

Kevin looked perplexed for a second before a look of understanding spread across his face. "Ah, I see. It's corruptive here too?"

Now it was her time to be confused. "Too?"

He nodded. "The Void, as you call it, is a consistent dimensional concept. Every world I have been to has the Void in one form or another. Hell, last world had an ancient civilization that created solid constructs out of Void. I got my hands on a sword and it was cool. Supposedly drove everyone that used it insane… except for me."

"What?"

"Yeah, that's the thing. The Void never really… affected me in any significant way. In most worlds, it takes the form of black liquid, and I was thrown into it. Where everyone else was dissolved nearly instantaneously by the stuff, I swam through it like it was just water, didn't do a damn thing to me."

That was… unbelievable.

The Void was the end of all things, an all-consuming force that wanted nothing more than to end the world.

"I've dealt with the Void since day one," He reassured her. "So trust me, I've got this."

Kevin snapped his finger.

… And was completely consumed by a black inferno in an instant. The void fire washed over Lilian's hands, but it did not consume her like it would anything else, as if those flames held a different purpose.

The void fire dispersed… and Kevin was gone.

Lilian's blood ran cold, her eyes widened, her heart stopped for a moment.

"No…" Lilian shook her head in denial. "No no no no…"

Tears rolled down her face as she stared at where her beloved once was before being consumed by the Void.

Kevin Swift was dead…

[-]

I, Kevin Swift -insert Giorno's theme here- am not dead!

I did, however, fall flat on my ass like an absolute chump. "Ow…"

I looked at my surroundings as I got up.

It was dark, incredibly so. But a white fog rolled through the area with faint luminescence, making seeing far easier.

The sound of crashing waves behind me caught my attention.

I turned to see an endless expanse of black inky water… like a moving abyss.

It looked like I was… on a beach?

The sand on my feet didn't exactly feel like sand, more like a fine powder.

It seems like I had… transferred dimensions. Maybe realities?

Eh, who cares the line between those gets blurry at times.

Though it was extremely odd. Well, more so considering the shit I've been through.

I felt… oddly content here. Like it was a place I belong to. Like I was meant to be here.

It scared me…

I sighed, and did what I did best. "Fuckers took my plane of existence. Can't have shit in the metaphysical dimension."

Make an ass out of myself.

Well Kevin, looks like you ain't in Kansas anymore, and no sexy redhead kitsune to lend a hand. Unfortunate.

I wonder how the locals are here. Probably hostile as considering how grimdark as fuck this place looks.

Then I noticed that the crashing of waves stopped.

I turned to the black ocean…

It was completely still.

The water merely rippled as a being a colossal size emerged.

It was so impossibly large, like it could swallow Cthulhu whole and it'd be but a mere snack.

The thing was an abomination, an affront to nature, at least seemingly.

Its head was vaguely shaped like the skull of a crocodile, white and pristine except for the black pits where its eyes should be. Its body was covered in a black mist-like substance where sharp bone-white spikes poked out randomly, though its skinless neck was left exposed for whatever reason. And finally, the mass of countless tentacles emerging from the black liquid and the creature's mist-covered body.

One of its gargantuan tentacles made its way towards my position, stopping only a few feet away from me.

Oh, how curious, it's asking me to get on.

"I've seen enough hentai to not finish this dead meme." I quipped then climbed on.

It brought me face to face with the eldritch creature before me, though I already knew what it really was.

Its jaws opened, and out came a voice that no mortal could even begin to understand. Yet I understood it as easily as English.

"Welcome… home.…"

Before me was a conceptual existence beyond the confines of reality, something that existed at the Start.

The Start of all universes.

A Primordial…

I grinned. "Well, this makes things interesting."

Chapter End